Oddity
by Insanity-Red
Summary: When someone accompanies Haruhi to Ouran on her first day of High School as another student, Ouran High School will experience the somewhat eccentric persona of one of the soon to be 'Natural Type's' childhood friend. Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The experience that you have in high school will affect you for the rest of your life, whether it is a minor or major effect. It can influence what kind of jobs you could get, what kind of people you associate with, even your personality and your outlook on life.

Thus far, I have had a bit of an… atypical experience in my high school that has now resulted in my expulsion. Even if the principal had no evidence that I was involved, a few rumors spread from a couple of rich kids whose parents donate to the school regularly seemed to win over the ruler of the school.

Therefore, I am going to a new school. Leaving behind my gang of followers for the new place, because most of the rumors focused on me alone. Needless to say, the rich kids didn't like me much as I didn't feel the need to bow to their every whim because they have a bit of cash. Now I never said my gang and I were innocent of the latest 'crime' of tying up one of the grumpier teachers and throwing him out of the second story window into a pile of squishy horse dung, but we weren't caught. It's too bad. My little band of followers was loyal to a fault.

Seeing as my expulsion occurred right before summer break, I have the entire season to prepare, and get information about all the groups in the establishment and the people in my new class. Yes, I know. It's a habit of mine. Not necessarily a bad one, just different, and I will maim anyone who says otherwise.

The bad thing though, is the fact that it will not be a public school. It will be a school for the type of kids who got me into this position in the first place. Rich kids. That's right. My 'family', consisting of two parents and me, their adoptive daughter, is loaded. I had convinced them to let me go to a public school, as I'm not one for many frivolous things, but now, since 'that public school had a bad influence on me', I am now condemned to spend the rest of my high school years surrounded by arrogant bimbos and playboys. Joy.

The only good thing coming out of this is the connections I might get, and that's only a possibility. At least I don't have to wear that horrible uniform. Oh yes, here's the best part! I get to move to an apartment, closer to the school, instead of the five-story mansion I have lived in since my adoption. Meaning no over-affectionate, wimpy 'parents' hovering over me fretfully.

Bwahahahaha… You didn't hear anything. I did not just laugh maniacally.

But anyways, it's a good thing my caretakers are so flimsy when it comes to enforcing rules. I usually end up making my own decisions, because they think it's good for later in life that I don't depend on them for choices. Tch. Like I ever would. Their money is only a convenience to me. I could make it to the top of wherever I want to go without it, but hey, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Helping to run the 'family' business has helped me with my management skills, and I'm not going to say I dislike the power that comes with the position. Not that there's that much power in a sweets business, but the little bit smaller laboratories on the side a very interesting to look at and oversee. I always liked science. And I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Okay, a large sweet tooth.

Now… I think I'll move into that apartment a little early. The less time spent in this mansion, the better; plus there's no sense in not knowing my surroundings when I'm being introduced to a new environment. …I just made myself sound like some sort of zoo animal, didn't I? Oh well. Anyways, I'll need to check all suitable apartment buildings to see if there's vacancy, and who's living in them. Wouldn't want to room next to a serial killer, now would we?

Let's see… murder suspect in apartment 2D. Nope. In this one, their's a convicted rapist on parole in room 1E. Definitely not happening. Ehhh… this is going to take a while…

Okay… after six hours of searching, I've found the one on Nagareboshi Street has a free room and no people with questionable records except that guy who jaywalked twenty years ago. Plus my best friend from middle school is there. Ah. Good times. Too bad that she never had the inclination to cause trouble or terrorize the school in any way. She never tattled to the teacher though. Too bad she's a year behind me as well, otherwise she'd be pretty much my right hand woman.

All right, enough spacing out; Focus! Ummm… where was I? Ah yes. Nagareboshi Street it is! Let's start with that packing. I want to be out of this stupid mansion by the end of the week!

******Thisisadividinglinebetweentwosegmentsofthestory**

"Oof." A large puff of air made its way forcefully out of the seventeen-year-old's throat as the teen put down the last box full of things into the new apartment. Looking around in satisfaction, the adolescent sighed and whined a bit, "I'm too lazy to unpack everything… so only necessities for now." So, setting to work, the teen unpacked a few sets of clothes, items for hygiene, and a couple of cushions and a full-body pillow that were promptly flung on the futon in the bedroom.

Turning to the dresser to put away the clothing, the teenager was pulled short by the reflection in the mirror. Staring back was a boy with soft, curly-spiky burgundy hair tipped with white that fell around his face and into his eyes, which were an odd shade of blackish-red. For clothing and accessories, he wore black jeans, a black hoody with white designs all over it, dark red chucks and black rectangular glasses.

Smirking in amusement at himself, he finished putting away the few outfits. Looking around at the sparse apartment, the redhead was just trying to think of something to do, when there was a loud gurgling sound. Chuckling amusedly he shook his head.

"Guess it's been decided for me. Grocery shopping it is. I want some candy...." He said to himself and walked over to one of the boxes, rummaging around before he found what he was looking for. Pulling out the objects, he chuckled maniacally before stopping himself abruptly. Lazily shucking off his shoes, he reached over to the newly unpacked rollerblades strapped them on. Stopping to admire the red designs on the black background of the blades, he pulled his hood up to hide the upper half of his face, and moved out the door and shutting it behind her.

With a large smirk on his face, he skated over to the stairs, before jumping high and landing on the rail, grinding all the way down, where he hopped off and zoomed away, dodging all the obstacles on the sidewalk expertly.

**Thisisadividinglinebetweentwosegmentsofthestory**

Author's Note: Okay people. This is my first story (that I'm putting on the site), k? Now I have so many ideas at this point, don't be surprised if I start other stories. Also I'm not sure if I particularly want to invent a new OC for every single story, so if you see minor, or major similarities between my Original Characters, you don't have to point it out to me, k?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Looking around from underneath his hood, he rolled into the grocery store on his rollerblades. Smirking almost excitedly he made his way over to the carts and pulled one out. He gave it a good push and let it tug him along on his wheels, grabbing a few items as went by, people dodging out of the way as the cart careened down the aisle.

Maniacally laughing inside his head, all that showed was a cool smirk on the outside, until he got to the candy section. He came to an abrupt halt, cart and all, with a dazed expression on his face, before he got an eerie twinkle in his eye and a thin line of drool dribble down his chin. Then he tore off towards the candy bars like a bat out of hell.

'Let's see… I've gotten Three Musketeers, Snickers, Hershey's, Carmello, Charleston Chew, Twix, Butterfinger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups; all those good things from America and about a dozen packages of dango and pocky **(1)**. Plus that non-candy necessary stuff… Too bad none of my 'family's' products would make it into the 'commoner' store… some of that expensive crap is pretty good.' he thought as he took inventory on his cart.

As he swiveled his head to find where the marshmallows were hiding, he saw someone familiar over by the cake mixes. His eyes widening slightly, a grin overtook his face, all thought of candy fleeing his head (A difficult feat, for sure.) as he speedily appeared next to the person and glomped her.

"Ru-chan! **(2)**" he exclaimed as he snuggled his face into her brown hair. He pulled away to see a vaguely surprised expression in her chocolate-brown eyes, before recognition lit them.

"Tsu-chan?" she asked. Said person grinned widely and gave her another rib-crushing squeeze before releasing her.

"How have you been doing Ru-chan? Is Ranka giving you to much trouble? What High School are you going to go to?" he would have gone on longer, but Haruhi interrupted him with a smile.

"I'm doing fine Tsu-chan. Otou-san** (3)** is fine as well. I'm not sure which school I'm going to yet, because my scholarship application hasn't come back." She explained patiently. "What are you doing her anyway? I know that you don't live that close to here, and you're wearing rollerblades, so you must have skated here."

"You're so observant aren't you Haruhi-chan? I finally got my legal guardians to let me live on my own, so I got an apartment in the complex on Nagareboshi Street, which, if I'm right, which I always am," he made sarcastic pose that made Haruhi snort with laughter, "Is where you live as well. We're neighbors! Isn't that great?" he finished with a grin.

"That's great." Haruhi stated, returning to find the cake mix that she wanted. "Would you like to come over for dinner Tsu-chan? If you just moved in, it won't be as comfortable in your apartment. (Plus all you'll eat is candy.)" She thought the last part.

"Are you going to cook?" he asked suspiciously, "because if Ranka is cooking, I'll take my sparse living quarters any day."

Haruhi gave an exasperated nod, and finally found the mix that she wanted. Plucking it off of the shelf and putting it in the small basket she was carrying, she turned to her childhood friend and asked, "What did you come to buy at the grocery store anyway?"

"Oh, the usual." The redhead inconspicuously inched in front of his shopping cart. "Healthy stuff. Fruits and vegetables. Yeah." Haruhi raised an eyebrow at him before leaning around him and looking into his shopping cart. Her raised eyebrow twitched as she saw the veritable mountain of candy occupying her friend's shopping cart.

"Is this your cart?" she asked blandly with a bit of annoyance.

"…Yes?" the other teen answered in mild voice.

Haruhi stared at him for a moment, before grabbing his wrist and dragging him to the checkout line, which wasn't very hard considering he was on wheels, even if it did look a bit odd with him being about 7 inches taller than her. A pout appeared on the lower half of his face, before he gave a small smirk as he pulled a hidden candy bar out of his pocket and paid for it while Haruhi wasn't looking.

Haruhi picked up her two plastic bags, and he narrowly missed being caught with the candy when she turned her head to him as they walked out of the store.

"Let's go Ayatsuri. I need to get home pretty quickly now because I wasted time talking to you." She said bluntly. The now named teen pouted again, before grinning deviously.

"I know how we can get there faster." He said in a singsong voice. Haruhi's eyes barely had time to widen nervously at his tone before he grabbed her bags and threw her on his back where she clung tightly as they skated off down the street in a bizarre piggyback ride; Ayatsuri laughing madly and Haruhi hanging on for dear life.

Soon though, the fun was over. At least Ayatsuri's fun. Haruhi gave him a small frown to hide her smile and snatched her groceries back as he grinned at her.

"I'm going to go take off my skates okay Ru-chan? Then I'll come over for dinner." Haruhi gave him a placid nod.

"You might want to dress as your correct gender though Tsu-chan. Otou-san will badger you if you don't, and right now you look like a boy." Haruhi stated.

Ayatsuri pouted again "Demo muri da yo! **(4) **When I dress comfortable I end up looking like a boy!" When Haruhi gave her a look however, the redhead sighed dramatically, "Ah the things I do for your cooking Ru-chan!" before she dashed into her apartment.

Rummaging through some of the boxes, as the few sets of clothing that she had laid out weren't very feminine, she eventually found a long narrow black skirt with slits up the side, some red shorts for underneath and a shirt that was half red on the top and half black on the bottom. She also found some black flip-flops.

Hurrying to the bedroom, she hurriedly shucked off her rollerblades and outfit, before she slipped her girlish garments. She left on her earrings and her glasses. She soon finished changing and looked herself over in the mirror above her dresser. Still pouting, she observed her reflection and compared it to her earlier appearance.

"I still think boys clothes are more comfortable." She mumbled to herself, before walking out the door. Looking over the railing at the darkening sky and the city underneath it, she smirked before walking a few meters over to the apartment that was her friend's.

Knocking on the door, she was only half-surprised when it burst open in a few seconds and her friend's cross-dressing father hugged her tightly.

"Oh Aya-chan! You should have visited earlier! We missed you so much!" he spouted rapidly while dragging her into the apartment to kneel on the cushions surrounding the small table near the kitchen. As Ranka continued to babble continuously, she sniffed at the air, inhaling the wonderful scent coming from the kitchen. Sighing contentedly she listened to Ranka's ramblings until Haruhi carried in dinner.

Soon, all three were piling food onto their plates, and chewing contentedly. Ranka soon started up a cheery conversation during the meal.

"So Aya-chan, how was your previous school year?" he asked curiously after swallowing a bite of fish.

"Ah, yes. It was fine. I'm going to a new school this year though." Ayatsuri answered with a smirk, smoothing over her expulsion, though Haruhi noticed something. "My adoptive parents have decided that I should have the experience of a more cultured school." She stuck a meat dumpling in her mouth and chewed thoroughly before swallowing it. "I believe it's called… Ouran High School."

Ranka got stars in his eyes. "That's so wonderful!" he said enthusiastically. Both girls looked at him curiously. Ranka, seeing their expressions expounded on his statement, "Haruhi's going to go there this year as well!"

Haruhi blinked in shock for a moment before asking, "How do you know that, Otou-san? I haven't gotten my scholarship application results back yet."

Ranka smiled sheepishly, "Oh, didn't I tell you? Your test results came back yesterday. You were accepted as Ouran's scholarship student!"

As Haruhi sat there stunned for moment, Ayatsuri smirked subtly. At least she wouldn't be braving the bimbos and playboys alone, even if they were in different classes.

**Thisisalinedividingsegmentsofthestory**

Author's Note: Okay, next chapter will have Ouran in it, don't worry!

1: Dango is basically dumplings on a wooden skewer, usually grouped in threes/ pocky is biscuits covered in some sort of flavor coating.

2: '-Chan' is a term of endearment meant to make a name sound more cutesy / usually used among girls or for very young people.

3: 'Otou' means father, while '-san' is a japanese suffix used by those who are being polite.

4: 'Demo muri da yo' means "I can't help it!" / 'demo' means but / 'yo' is sometimes used for emphasis at the end of a phrase or sentence.


	3. Chapter 3

Oddity Chapter 3

With the knowledge that they wouldn't have to brave their new school alone, their minds had less on them, and before the two girls knew it, summer was over and the new school year was ready to start. Actually, on the first day of school, one of the smaller children living at the apartment complex stuck his gum in Haruhi's pretty brown hair, so Haruhi decided to chop all of it off. "Because shorter hair is easier to manage anyway." And since one of her contacts had been crushed, she was forced to wear her large, geeky glasses as well.

Ayatsuri snorted with laughter as Haruhi came out of her apartment.

"You look like some sort of Harry Potter wannabe Ru-chan." and with her jagged, self-given haircut, her thick-framed glasses, shapeless old sweater, and loose-fitting slacks, she kind of did.

Haruhi ignored the comment on her appearance, but gave a small frown as she looked over her friend. "Why aren't you wearing the uniform?" she asked bluntly. Seeing the outfit her companion was wearing, an unbuttoned black jacket that went down to her knees, some baggy black jeans, a black dress shirt with a couple buttons undone, a loose maroon tie, a black cap that covered all her hair, and black chucks. It was a far cry from the puffy, mustard colored dress that the school expected the female students to wear.

Ayatsuri snorted again, this time with derision. "You actually expected me to wear that monstrosity?" she asked disdainfully as she fixed some reddish-black sunglasses over her contact covered eyes. "Besides, now you won't be the only one not wearing the uniform."

Haruhi shrugged, not really caring, and they walked down the stairs to the parking lot, where Ayatsuri's car was. Ah, the joys of carpooling. Climbing into the black and burgundy 1966 Tempest, Ayatsuri lovingly ran her hands over the steering wheel of the old car, before roaring out of the parking lot.

About ten minutes later, they were parked in the Ouran High School Parking lot, and getting out of the car. Haruhi's legs were a bit jelly like for a moment or two, before she shook it off, being used to her friend's driving by then. Ayatsuri on the other hand was grinning cheerily as she grabbed her shoulder bag from in between the front seats.

When they looked at the school buildings, however, Haruhi's jaw dropped a little and Ayatsuri let out a long, low whistle.

"Dang, this place looks like some sort of Barbie mansion with all that pink crap." Ayatsuri said frankly. Haruhi beside her nodded dumbly.

"How are we ever supposed to find our classes?" she asked dubiously.

"Well, I know how to get to mine. This school looks so much smaller on a screen… Maybe they have a map?" Ayatsuri said skeptically.

They stared at the enormous school for a few more moments, before Ayatsuri decided to switch moods.

"Well, let's get going Ru-chan. We need to find the main desk and see if they have a map, or a least directions, because I forgot to look up the routes to your classes over the summer; even if I know the way to my class, I won't leave you to fend for your little heckling-target freshman self on your first day." She said all too cheerfully.

"That's very encouraging." Haruhi said sarcastically as she was dragged towards the school. Soon, they were wandering the opulent halls with no idea where they were going; the small amount of people they passed rushing off to spread rumors about the people not dressed in the uniform.

Finally, one of them seemed considerate enough to tell them where to go, or it seemed so until the girl opened her mouth.

"What are commoners doing here? You don't belong here, so go away." She said in a holier-than-thou tone that went straight through her nose. Haruhi stared at her blankly, while Ayatsuri raised a half-irritated half-amused eyebrow behind her sunglasses.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Ayatsuri asked in her silky smooth voice, it made you think that she would verbally attack you the moment you let your guard down. The girl stiffened a moment before tossing her hair snootily.

"It means without a pedigree or money, you're worthless here." She sniffed haughtily not noticing the small group of people that had gathered to eavesdrop on their confrontation.

"Oh. I didn't know that riding on the coattails of your parents with no accomplishments of your own was worth so much in any society! Now, my friend Haruhi here is neither rich, nor born to some family of the upper crust of society, but got here on intelligence, which is more than you can say sadly. I myself am from a rather wealthy family actually, but because I am not dressed in the overly expensive uniform, you automatically assumed that I was a 'commoner' as you so thoughtlessly put it. You might want to work on your lacking observation skills, princess." She added the last part 'kindly' and not sarcastically at all, oh no.

Ayatsuri looked around at the astonished students around them and gave a small smirk. "Now I'm sorry, but we never introduced ourselves. This is Fujioka Haruhi, and I am Usakichi Ayatsuri." She morphed her smirk into a fake, but polite smile at the horrified expression on the girl's face. The general public did not know it, but the people in higher circles knew that the Usakichi family, while being candy producers, was also very influential in the political arena, though most were too nice to do anything vindictive. "I am sorry to cut this pleasant meeting short, but my friend and I must be getting to class, as being late would not be prudent."

Haruhi, who had been quietly amused and a little exasperated at the conversation thus far, bowed with her friend, and they went on their way, leaving stunned students in their wake.

Soon, they wandered across Haruhi's classroom, where they parted and Ayatsuri followed her previously planned out route to her own class from a map that she had found after a bit of hacking on the Internet. Opening the door and walking into her class, she looked around and saw that there were only about five people there so far. There were two gossiping, giggling girls, a black-cloaked guy in the corner farthest from the windows with a cat puppet on his left hand that had something to do with the Black Magic Club, and a dramatic looking blonde who was nattering to a black haired guy wearing glasses, who she remembered were also in some sort of club.

Not stopping to examine them more, she sat in the corner opposite the cloaked guy and looked out the window, ignoring everyone until class started. The teacher stood up and took roll call, before call her name last.

"… And we have a new student, Usakichi Ayatsuri." The teacher looked up and Ayatsuri raised her hand half-heartedly before lowering it again. "Now since it's the first day back from summer vacation, I'm giving you all a free period as long as you read the first section of your text by tomorrow." There were a few cheers as the teacher left the room, and soon everyone was in a conversation with someone else, besides the cloaked guy, whose name was apparently Nekozawa and Ayatsuri herself.

She gave a small smirk to herself. She had a vague idea why no one was approaching her. There were probably so many rumors circulating about her earlier confrontation with that snob that they most likely wouldn't talk to her for a couple of days. Not that she was complaining; she didn't really have the inclination to associate much with the rich and spoiled. So, while they curiously stared at her from a distance, she brought her black notebook out of her bag and started to doodle.

The rest of the school day passed in much the same manner; No one talking to her, and her talking to no one, except for the lunch break where she found Haruhi's classroom once again and they ate their bentos together. All in all, she was glad that it was almost time to go home.

As soon as the bell rang, she snatched up her bag and dashed out the door, swerving around the people just getting up. As she ran out the door, she heard the teacher remind them to finish their assignment. Smirking happily, Ayatsuri gracefully weaved her way through the stampede of students getting out of their classes, on her way towards Haruhi's classroom.

Soon, she had arrived, and found her friend waiting outside the door for her, reading one of the many thick textbooks they had gotten for their lessons.

"Hello Kouhai-chan! **(1)**" she greeted in a teasing tone, "You ready to go home now?

The shorter brunette shook her head, making her shaggy mop of hair sway, and put away her textbook inside her book bag. "No Tsu-chan. I'd really like to find somewhere quiet to study when I can."

Ayatsuri smirked at her friend, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Oh Ru-chan that's so cute! Your so responsible with your studies, aren't you?" she cooed mockingly, but still walked with her towards the nearest library in the veritable castle of a school. "Still, I can understand how it might be hard to study at your home with your father's over-exuberant affections." She finished somewhat thoughtfully, snickering at the long-suffering look on Haruhi's face.

But after traipsing around the school for about half-an-hour, checking all the different spots they could find, they had yet to locate a suitable place to study. All of the libraries were full of rich kids in their pastel uniforms, chattering inanely and most of all, loudly.

"Four libraries, and not one of them quiet!" Haruhi complained as a few drops of sweat beaded on her temples from all the walking. "Rich bastards!"

Ayatsuri, who had taken her skates out of her bag and was rolling placidly next to her younger friend, was still fresh as a daisy. "Oh Ru-chan, I didn't think you cursed!" she said mockingly as she revolved around her friend on her skates. As Haruhi's eyebrow twitched dangerously, Ayatsuri smiled serenely at her, gnawing on a stick of hard candy she had pulled out of her bag.

"Why don't we try that room?" Ayatsuri asked, pointing to a door labeled 'Third Music Room.' The redhead had a nagging thought in the back of her head telling her not to go in, but she ignored it with the reasoning that if they didn't find a quiet place to study soon, her brunette underclassman would blow up at her. 'Besides, even if there is something bad in there, Haruhi's going in first.' She thought with a small smirk as said girl stepped up to the door and walked in cautiously, Ayatsuri peeking over her head.

As soon as the door opened, a haze of cherry blossom petals blinded them, and they heard several different voices saying, "Welcome."

"Dude, what the he-!" a flower petal flew into Ayatsuri's mouth mid-curse, causing her to spit and cough harshly for a moment or two, before she noticed petals plastered to the saliva coated parts of her candy. With her lips tightly pressed together, she meticulously plucked the flower bits off of her treat, sticking it back in her mouth, and examining the situation that they had stumbled upon.

In front of the two boyish looking girls were six guys posing, all with smiles of varying sizes on their faces; Six very beautiful guys, not that they really cared. Ayatsuri noticed that two of them were the dramatic blond and the glasses guy from her class. 'This must be that club then.' She concluded. 'What was it called again? The… Host Club?' she pondered, looking over the other guys. As she was lost in her musings, Haruhi was backed against the wall in surprise and sweating up a storm.

They heard two voices say at the same time, "Oh. It's a couple of guys." Ayatsuri looked over to see a couple of twins shrugging in boredom.

"Even if they are guys, they're important customers!" the blond from Ayatsuri's class scolded them lightly, before standing up fro the chair he had been sitting in. "Welcome rare scholarship student Fujioka Haruhi-kun!" the loud blond, 'Suoh Tamaki.' her brain reminded her, declared as he reached to help Haruhi up from the wall with a smile. He didn't seem to have noticed Ayatsuri hovering behind her smaller brunette friend.

Haruhi seemed a bit disturbed that they already her name. "How do you know my name?" she asked in confused irritation.

The dark-haired guy with glasses, 'Ohtori Kyouya.' her mind identified him, spoke up. "It seems that the tone of our school doesn't really fit commoners, so you have to have a lot of nerve to get a scholarship here. So I wouldn't be much of a student if I didn't know who you were." He stated with a pleasant smile.

Haruhi twitched at being called a 'commoner with a lot of nerve' "…Yeah. Thanks for explaining so… kindly." 'Even if you did remind me of Ayatsuri from earlier.'

"Yes! You are, so to speak, a hero Fujioka-kun! **(2)**" Tamaki said excitedly, suddenly up close to Haruhi's face, grabbing her shoulders. He grabbed her into a hug in the middle of the room and started a dramatic speech. "Even if you are the top student, you are the poorest! You might be called scum, the lowest of the low! Despised as a poor person!"

Haruhi twitched minutely again. "You don't have to say that much." She muttered, though he didn't seem to hear her.

"I cannot believe the famed commoner student is gay." Tamaki said musingly.

"Gay??" Haruhi asked in shocked disbelief as Ayatsuri, still going unnoticed by the dramatic blond watched the proceedings in amusement from the doorway, which she had shut behind her quietly.

"So, what type would you like?" Tamaki asked, not hearing her again, "The Lolita Type?" here he pointed to the small honey-blond senior, who was hugging a stuffed bunny. He had a childlike countenance. 'Haninozuka Mistukuni.' Her brain added in.

"The Wild Type?" he pointed to the tall, dark-haired guy. He was carefully watching the childlike senior next to him. 'Morinozuka Takashi.' She identified him as Mitsukuni's cousin.

"The Little-Devil Type?" he pointed to the twins. They had orange-pink hair and were identical in looks, except that their hairstyles were parted in opposite directions. 'Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru.'

"The Cool Type?" here he pointed at Kyouya, who was scribbling something down in a black notebook that he had pulled out of nowhere.

"Or," here Tamaki stopped to chuckle pompously, "Would you like to try me; the Prince Type?" He asked flirtatiously as he grabbed Haruhi's chin. She shivered in disgust.

"No! You misunderstood!" she said horror-struck. Before she could finish her explanation, Mitsukuni appeared by her.

"Wow Haru-chan, are you really a hero? I want to hear the story where you saved the queen!" he exclaimed in childish enthusiasm.

Haruhi though, with all the irritation bottled up, finally snapped. "Who gave you permission to call me Haru-chan?!" she growled out at the childlike senior.

As Mitsukuni's eyes started to water up, Ayatsuri decided to step in since when Haruhi snapped, it was never to good for the situation.

Rolling up on her skates behind her friend, she slithered her left arm around Haruhi's shoulders. "Now now, Ru-chan. It was just a little nickname. No need to blow up at the little guy." She stated lazily. "Besides," she continued, hoisting up the tiny senior by his armpits and holding him like a puppy, "You can't say no to this face can you?" she asked pathetically as they both gave Haruhi big watery eyes, not that the brunette could see behind Ayatsuri's sunglasses.

Haruhi's eye twitched in irritation again, but she had to hide a tiny smile at her friend's antics. Ayatsuri smirked at her friend, before putting down the small boy she was holding and kneeling down in front of him so she wouldn't roll on her skates.

"Hello. I'm Usakichi Ayatsuri." She said with a small grin. "Don't mind my friend. Ru-chan's just frustrated that we couldn't find a quiet place to study. K?"

Mitsukuni nodded fervently, before his whole face lit up with a smile. "I'm Haninozuka Mitsukuni, but you can call me Hani!" he then scampered over to Takashi tugged on his hand playfully. "This is Morinozuka Takashi, but you can call him Mori! He's my cousin." The tall senior inclined his head with a tiny smile as he handed Hani his stuffed rabbit.

Then, the twins butted in, "Why would you come to a music room if you were looking for somewhere quiet?" the asked snidely at the same time, identical sarcastic smirks on their faces.

Ayatsuri's eye twitched violently behind her sunglasses, before she slowly turned her head over her shoulder to look at them with a chillingly polite smile. They could practically see the dark shadowy tentacles waving behind her. "Excuse me. The room was quiet from outside the door. How were we to know that we would meet people such as you in a school where they are supposed to have richly bred manners?" The twins backed away from her sinister-yet-polite appearance, wide-eyed. 'Another Shadow King?' they thought anxiously, looking from her to Kyouya who was jotting down a few notes in his little black notebook.

Completely changing moods, Ayatsuri turned to smile at Haruhi, who was getting more uncomfortable by the minute with Tamaki in the near vicinity, watching him warily. "Would you like to go now Ru-chan?" she asked serenely with a smile on her face. Haruhi jumped at being addressed, before registering the question and nodding vigorously. She back pedaled, keeping Tamaki in her eyesight, but didn't notice what was directly behind her.

Ayatsuri's eyes widened and she moved into action just as her friend walked backwards into a expensive looking vase. She got there in time to catch the brunette, but the vase met the unfortunate end of shattering on the floor.

"Are you okay Ru-chan?" she asked calmly. Haruhi didn't say anything, just stood there, staring at the broken shards of pottery with a panicked expression on her face and her mouth wide open.

"Oh no. That rune vase was supposed to be a feature for the school auction." One of the twins said uncaringly. "What will we do…? We were going to start the bidding at eight million yen." The other twin finished.

Haruhi started sweating profusely. "I… I'll pay it ba-…" The twins interrupted her.

"Can you? You can't even buy the uniform. What's with the lame clothing you're wearing?" the twins asked boredly.

Haruhi fumbled for a moment, "This was my dad's and I couldn't find anything else that looked remotely like a uniform." She muttered pitifully.

"What would you do, Tamaki?" Kyouya asked to the blond, once again perched on his throne-like chair.

"Aah. Do you know this proverb Fujioka-kun?" his attitude changed completely, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. If you don't have money, pay with your body!! From now on, you are the Host Club's dog!"

Everyone watched in curiosity as Haruhi stood there, looking like the spirit had just left her body. After a few moments, Ayatsuri coughed discreetly. As soon as the attention was on her, she gave a polite smile.

"I'm sure that there is no reason to resort to slavery. There must be some other way that she could work of her debt." Ayatsuri said in a serene voice, the 'or else' unspoken.

Tamaki looked surprised for a moment, before he struck a thinking pose. "Hmmm… it may be impossible with his looks…" he mumbled as he looked Haruhi over. "But if I train him thoroughly… All right! I'll make you a Host! If you can get 100 customers, we'll let you go!"

Haruhi looked even more horror struck than before. "No! I'd rather do chores!" she cried.

Ayatsuri looked contemplative for a moment, before a gigantic smirk slithered its way onto her face. "Oh no Ru-chan. You aren't going to do chores. You'll be doing this option. I'll even help it go faster. But if you do the chores I won't help; that would be boring. Being a Host might have its benefits." And with that decision made for her friend, Ayatsuri shooed her away for Tamaki to shove meaningless knowledge into her brain.

As Tamaki annoyed Haruhi, Hani ambled over to Ayatsuri. "Aya-chan, aren't you going to learn from Tamaki too?" he asked innocently.

Ayatsuri smiled sweetly at the short teen, before replying, "No Hani-kun. I have been taught many forms of polite mannerisms." She said, shooting a look over at the twins, who shuddered. "I won't need to learn anything from Suoh-san."

Hani smiled brightly at her, "Do you want to eat cake with me Aya-chan?" he asked cutely.

Ayatsuri froze for a moment, before a bright smile made its way to her face as well. "Really? You have cake here?" she asked happily. Hani nodded fervently.

"Me and Usa-chan love cake, come on!" and with surprising strength for his stature, he grabbed her arm and dragged her to a little table piled high with cakes, where Mori was sitting on a couch next to it.

Sitting down, Ayatsuri stared at the many varieties of cakes in front of her, before Hani sat next to her and snuggled up to her side. Surprised that he was that comfortable with her already, she blinked a few times as he gathered some strawberry cake and started to eat some, his plush rabbit situated between his arms. Looking at Mori, she saw him have a semi-surprised look as well, before he gave a miniscule smile. She gave a small smile as well, before grabbing some chocolate cake with buttermilk frosting.

A few minutes later, Hani and Ayatsuri had finished their cakes, and the short teen hopped out of his position between Mori and Ayatsuri. He then turned to them and said, "I'm going to go see if Haru-chan wants to have some cake too!" he gave another cute smile before scampering off.

Mori and Ayatsuri watched his conversation with Haruhi, Ayatsuri noticing her blush after Hani gave her the puppy-dog eyes and play with Usa-chan **(3)** at his request, despite her not particularly liking rabbits. Ayatsuri gave a secret smile. This club would be good for Haruhi. She could feel it.

**Author's Note:**

Okey-Dokey. It took a little while longer to update this time, but the chapter is extra long, and Ayatsuri and Haruhi finally met the Host Club.

(1): Kouhai- means underclassman

(2): -Kun is a suffix used for male boy or teenagers. It can also be used by someone in a senior position to someone in a junior position.

(3): Usa is the beginning of the Japanese word 'Usagi', which means 'rabbit'.


	4. Chapter 4

Oddity Chapter 4

It was the next day saw Haruhi still in her, 'Apprentice-Host' stage, standing near Ayatsuri and watching the Hosts in action. Ayatsuri, on the other hand, had dragged a chair and a small table over to a corner of the room and was also observing the goings on whilst sipping at tea and typing on her laptop.

In the middle of the room, there was the blonde drama queen- I mean king, flirting ridiculously with the naïve and paying females. "Where will you take me during the summer Tamaki-kun?" a girl in a puffy yellow uniform asked with a large blush on her face.

Tamaki, who was sitting near her, delicately grabbed her chin, before replying, "Anywhere you want." Making the girl swoon. Another female eagerly moved to take her place as number one Tamaki's 'Schmooze 'Em' **(1)** hit list.

"What is your favorite music Tamaki-kun?" she asked, a look of blind, fangirly adoration on her moderately pretty face.

"Whatever you favor, my princess." He said, looking up at her from where he was picking up a cup of tea from a low table. She blushed like a tomato, and lost herself in her fantasies of listening to music with 'her Tamaki-sama'. Then one of the other girls surrounding shyly spoke up.

"I baked a cake today, would you please eat some?" she asked a pitifully large amount of hope in her voice, considering the question she was asking.

Tamaki leaned over closer to her, "If you feed me." He answered in a low voice.

She blushed hard, holding her dainty hands up to her cheeks and smiling goofily, "Oh my, Tamaki-kun."

Making a face at the spectacle, Ayatsuri decided to turn her attention towards the twins she scared the crap out of the other day, who were on the farthest side of the room from her little corner. Hikaru was laughing heartily, in the middle of telling a story.

"And so then, this guy formatted the data he made overnight while he was still half-asleep!" Hikaru laughed, gesturing towards his twin brother.

Kaoru interrupted, "Hikaru! That's!" he sputtered with a furious (faked) blush. But Hikaru continued with his story as one of their customer commented how cute Kaoru was.

"And he panicked and cried to me---"

"Hikaru!" Kaoru yelped in embarrassed anger. Hikaru stopped and looked over at his brother, who looked like he was about to cry. "You're so cruel… in front of everyone… telling that story." He whispered pitifully.

Hikaru looked at him with regret, "Kaoru… I'm so sorry Kaoru… it's just that you were so cute that time…"

"Hikaru!" Kaoru gasped as they held hands.

The customers around them shrieked in happiness, "Beautiful brotherly love! Kyaa!" they cried, 'squee-ing' with delight and blushes on their faces. One of the more imaginative girls fainted, a small dribble of blood making its way down her blouse from her nose.

"I don't get it." Haruhi stated uncomfortably, "Why do they like that so much?" she asked, though the question was directed more at herself than Ayatsuri. Said redhead smirked and opened her mouth to comment, when Kyouya appeared.

"Our motto is to make use of each of our characteristics to answer our customers' needs." He stated, arms crossed, his glasses flashing in the light from the chandeliers on the ceiling.

Ayatsuri gave a small grin, staring out at the lively girls and Hosts, "Tamaki's their favorite Host, isn't he?" she asked amusedly. Kyouya turned to her in surprise.

"Yes actually. How did you know?" he asked with hidden curiosity. Ayatsuri merely smiled at him.

"I guessed. He seems to be the most generic one, so the girls wouldn't have to have specific fetishes to request him." Her smile took on an impish edge, "There's also the fact that it is a simple matter to hack into your finances and see who gets the most profit." Kyouya looked a bit disgruntled, at least until she started talking about ways to gain more profit. "Did you know that you could use a different material for clothing? It's cheaper and with the same quality. You could have saved about two-hundred dollars per Host." She said, showing him a few files on her laptop as he bent to look over her shoulder in interest.

Haruhi stared at them in with a little bemusement, before deciding to interrupt before they got too absorbed in their financing. "Tamaki is the most popular?" she asked incredulously. Kyouya straightened up and adjusted his glasses as he looked at her.

"Yes. He is our best." He handed her his notebook, opened to a certain page. "Seven out of ten customers request him." He gave a polite smile, changing the subject; "You will be taking cares of the chores for a while. Run away if you want, but I have an excellent staff at home. I hope you have a passport. **(2)**" He stated the last one questioningly, still with the smile on his lips.

'Devil's smile.' Haruhi thought nervously, slumping in depression.

Tamaki suddenly appeared behind her, holding his chin and leaning over her shoulder. "He's right, you know. Work hard to pay off the eight million yen! You'll never be popular that way." He indicated her slumped posture.

Haruhi though, had jumped away completely ignoring his words in favor of concentrating on the fact that he had intruded her personal space… again. "Please don't do that." She said exasperatedly.

"Oh?" Tamaki asked with surprise. "This is one of my best techniques." He said.

"I'm not interested in that sort of thing." She deadpanned. "Besides. It doesn't really matter, does it? Guy, girl, or appearance… I don't understand why a club like this exists. It's what's on the inside that counts, right?"

Tamaki stared at her seriously for a moment, "Well… True…" and then his seriousness was lost to his drama. "It's barbarous! God sometimes creates humans with perfect bodies and contents. It's not that I mean to brag about it, but you need to tell yourself that, otherwise how could you live with yourself, with you looking the way you do…" he continued to ramble on, but Haruhi blocked him out, fed up.

'Argh…' she thought in irritation. 'This guy… How to say this… Troublesome? Not that word… something more like…' She made a little 'Aha!' sound. "I know!" she said. Tamaki turned to her.

"Oh, you've understood?" Tamaki asked peppily.

"**It's annoying**."

Tamaki stared at her with wide eyes, before retreating to a clear place on the floor and crouching there to sulk. Then the twins came up and started congratulating her and patting her on the back of her head. Ayatsuri narrowed her eyes at them, not that they could see behind her sunglasses. She still didn't like the twins that much.

She watched as they remarked about how Haruhi was a 'commoner with a lot of nerve' after all. Then Haruhi awkwardly called to Tamaki, subconsciously curtseying, "Ah… Souh-senpai…"

"King." He interrupted. She stared at him quizzically. "I go by that here." He stated.

"Alright, Kin…?" Haruhi started to say, but trailed off as other Hosts blatantly called him almost anything but 'king'. The girls were distracted from the pitiful sight as Mori walked in, carrying Hani on his back.

"Sorry we are late!" Hani said happily as Mori piggybacked him over to where their customers were waiting. The uniformed girls squealed happily and called the seniors' names. "I fell asleep while I was waiting for Takashi's other club activity to be over." Here he paused to rub his watering eyes blearily. "I'm still kinda sleepy." He mumbled. The girls surrounding the two giggled at his cuteness, while Ayatsuri watched them with softened eyes behind her sunglasses.

Soon though, the Hosting session was over, and Haruhi was dragged off by Tamaki to learn more meaningless Host mannerisms. Ayatsuri walked over to supervise the lesson to make sure that Tamaki didn't do something too stupid. She effortlessly caught Tamaki's hand as he went to smack Haruhi on the head for putting a glass down without cushioning it with her pinky finger. "Hit Haruhi and I'll hit you harder." She said in a pleasant tone. Tamaki shrunk away fearfully while Haruhi sweat-dropped.

Then, the lessons were done and Ayatsuri and Haruhi were on their way back to the apartment complex after saying goodbye to some of the more agreeable Hosts. "So did you like your etiquette lesson?" Ayatsuri asked blandly as she made a sharp turn on the road with her Tempest. She pushed down on the gas petal, swerving around a few slow-going cars. Haruhi didn't bother answering; she just hung onto the hanging bar on the ceiling of the car as Ayatsuri made another tight turn, hugging the curb a bit too closely for the brunette's tastes.

When they arrived in the apartment complex's parking lot, Haruhi gratefully stumbled out of the car and wobbled her way up the steps towards her apartment, Ayatsuri following her until they reached the door to the redhead's residence. "Have a good evening Ru-chan." She stated, smiling as she shut the door.

**I-am-a-line-don't-mind-me-I-am-just-dividing-the-story**

The day after, when school was done, Ayatsuri was once again observing from the corner, though she didn't pay as much attention as she did the day before. Haruhi was out getting groceries for the Hosts, mainly coffee. The redhead was pretty sure that the rich kids didn't count on the fact that Haruhi didn't have the same mentality as them, and would probably buy the cheapest stuff in the store.

Ayatsuri checked her watch thoughtfully, ignoring the 'kyaa'ing **(3) **from the customers at their respective Hosts' actions. 'It's about time Haruhi got back from the store. I hope she remembered to get me that specific brand of drink that I asked her for. And those cakes from that awesome bakery.' But before, Ayatsuri could start salivating at the thought of donuts, she heard a remark that she didn't like the sound of.

"Tamaki-sama, I heard about it. I heard you were taking care of the kitty with no pedigree." A girl said in a semi-disdainful tone.

"Yeah… it's pretty sad to be called a kitty. But you can't leave the worrisome alone, right?" Tamaki said with a charming smile as roses appeared out of nowhere and surrounded him.

Just then, Haruhi walked through the door, carrying a big, brown, paper bag filled to the brim with groceries. Tamaki turned towards her, "Oh, thank you for buying the things little piggy. Did you find everything okay?" he asked carelessly.

Haruhi looked a bit miffed at the nickname and the subsequent snort of laughter from her friend that it caused, but otherwise ignored him and started to set out the groceries on a side table. But as she set out the coffee, Tamaki blinked in confusion. "What is this?" he asked inquisitively, picking up the small, plastic container of instant coffee that the brunette had bought.

"Coffee. It was one of the items on the note." She answered blankly, wondering why he didn't know since he was the one who wrote the list of items she was to buy.

"Is this already ground?" he asked. "I've never seen this brand."

Haruhi blinked. "No, it's an instant one."

"Instant?" Tamaki said. "Ooh!! Isn't this the one peasants made? That is you pour hot water on, it's ready to drink?" he asked in excitement. Ayatsuri watched in a amusement as all the Hosts crowded around him, wanting to get a look at the small item, making comments.

"I see… So this is the rumored peasants'…" Kyouya muttered contemplatively.

"So it's true that poor people don't even have time to grind beans?" Hikaru asked in awe.

"Such lovely wisdom from peasants." Kaoru added on to his brother's statement.

"I wanted to try it once. Peasants' coffee." Hani said dreamily.

Haruhi watched the proceedings in disbelief and irritation. "I'll go buy the right one! I'm sorry it wasn't the expensive coffee beans that you usually use!" she snapped.

"No, it's okay. I'll drink it!" Tamaki said with stars in his eyes.

"Ooh Tono, you have courage!" Hikaru said with a smirk.

Kaoru was more occupied with the price. "It's only three hundred yen for one hundred grams of coffee! That's cheaper than a single cup!" he said, surprised.

Ayatsuri could just imagine her childhood friend swearing at them in her mind. She got up to walk towards the irritated brunette, but stopped when she heard the demeaning girl from before saying something more. "They are playing around too much. There is no way that it suits their taste." She said the last part contemptuously.

Haruhi turned to her, not having noticed her there before. "Huh?" she asked, only having half-heard the scornful comment.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just talking to myself." The girl said with a fake smile.

"O…kay?" Haruhi said to herself, but then Tamaki started to call her over.

"Haruhi! Come make us some peasant's coffee for us!" he exclaimed gleefully. When she turned to him, he said, "Everyone's waiting for you." And gestured to the customers and Hosts lined up.

"Eh?" Haruhi said, bemused. She didn't notice that the derisive girl was twitching in disbelief and anger, though Ayatsuri did.

'Hmmm… is she a threat to Haruhi…? Well, even if she isn't, I still don't like her. Maybe I could call in some friends in to take care of her… or maybe just do it myself…' she thought the last part with an evil smirk on her face, which was spotted by Haruhi.

Haruhi scrambled for a something to distract her friend from whatever nefarious deed she was thinking of, "Ah! Tsu-chan, will you come help me make the coffee? Then you can have your tea and donuts." she added the last part as a bribe. Ayatsuri snapped out of her progressively more violent thoughts and slunk her way over unenthusiastically to help make the coffee.

Soon, they had made enough for everyone that wanted to try it, and Ayatsuri moved off to a table near a window with her favorite Chai tea **(4) **and a glazed bun. She settled down into a cushiony chair, squirming a little until she was comfortable, and started one of her favorite hobbies. Watching people and their reactions to everything. It was one of the reasons that she was the leader of the toughest gang at her old school. She was very observant and had a sharp mind, able to some up with escape routes, or revenge plots on a seconds notice.

Quickly, she snapped out of her reminiscing, the only outward change being the clearing of her slightly clouded eyes, to continue observing, or would have if Kyouya hadn't walked up beside her.

"You're not one to get in the thick of things are you?" he asked with a smirk, looking down at her seated form from his standing height.

She tilted her head at him, no expression on her face. "Oh I can if I want too. Right now though, there is more to be gained from just observing the…" she trailed off as she noticed two girls off to the side, set apart from the rest of them. Reddish-black eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses as she noticed that one of them was that girl she didn't like. The other one was bearing a worried expression, gazing at Tamaki as if he had lost his mind, and had an unconsciously submissive posture towards the other girl.

The only snippets of their conversation she caught were, "Tamaki-sama… crazy… Ayanokouji-no-kimi? **(5)**" from the subservient girl and, "Only… polite… peasant… kindness… problem… dealt with." Ayatsuri's hand subconsciously went to the small knife holster inside her right sleeve **(6) **in anger as she pieced together the conversation.

'This… Ayanokouji needs to be kept an eye on.' She thought, before going back to watching Haruhi like a hawk. Kyouya had also noticed and was thinking along the same lines, but did not bring it to attention, instead going back to their conversing with the seated girl.

"What is it that you are drinking?" he asked curiously, "It isn't coffee, or tea." he stated after delicately sniffing the scent of her drink.

Ayatsuri gave a small grin. "It's Chai, my favorite drink of all time. It's very sweet and relatively cheap to buy. I asked Haruhi to get it for me when Tamaki sent her to get groceries."

Kyouya nodded and scribbled something down in his notebook, probably about the possibilty of having Chai tea as a optional drink for the customers. He then noticed Ayatsuri looking at something specific, and he turned curiously, only to find her watching Haruhi interact with the Hosts. "They have no idea that she is a girl, do they?" the redhead asked him in amusement.

Kyouya smirked, already having known that from looking up her school ID. "Not a clue."

A few minutes after that, the Hosting session was done for the day, and so, the two non-feminine girls, after Ayatsuri bid farewell to the seniors and her black-haired classmate, walked out of the Third Music Room and through the halls of Ouran in the direction of the exit. Haruhi had made Ayatsuri walk with her to school instead of driving because of the redhead's driving style. It made her regret not having a driver's license yet every time she had to get in the passenger seat with Ayatsuri driving. And so, with much whining and clinging to her car from Ayatsuri, they had walked to school.

Haruhi had been discreetly observing her friend, and saw the absentmindedness and her hands drifting towards her knives, so she finally decided to speak up, "What's bothering you Tsu-chan?" she asked cautiously, not wanting to provoke her red-haired friend.

Ayatsuri blinked behind her sunglasses, before giving Haruhi an answer that she knew would put the brunette off asking anymore questions, "Oh nothing… just thinking that maybe I might have some guys to… incapacitate if they touch you anymore…" she trailed off purposely, watching Haruhi's eyes widen, before she started to power walk, leaving behind her friend, who was strolling along at a lazy pace.

Ayatsuri chuckled softly as Haruhi was soon nowhere to be seen, probably already walking home by herself instead of waiting for her. 'Hmmm… do I have anything to do at home today?' Ayatsuri thought absently. 'If Haruhi doesn't need a ride and is already going to the apartment complex without me, I could do something a little more interesting instead of going directly home.' A small smirk made its way to her face as she decided, and she turned at the next random intersection in the halls, intent on exploring the school.

**I-am-a-line-dividing-this-chapter-from-the-author's-note**

**Author's Note:**

Okay, sorry that this chapter took so long. I got lazy. '-.- But, now this story is officially over 10,000 words! –Gives cheesy grin-

(1): About this… I don't really know. I just always imagine Tamaki as some cheesy schmoozer guy, I suppose. Heheh.

(2): Meaning that he'd run her out of Japan.

(3): You know what I mean here right? That annoying fangirls squeal that threatens to pierce your eardrums every time you hear it.

(4): If you haven't ever had this stuff, try it! It's awesomely awesome! –Drools-

(5): '-no-kimi' is an old fashioned, but noble way of saying '-san'

(6): She's a bit more violent than most girls, in case you didn't notice. That gang that I mentioned in the first chapter is a bit more intimidating than just a group of pranksters who throw teachers into manure piles. That just happens to be the thing they got blamed/caught doing.


	5. Chapter 5

Oddity Chapter 5

Soft footsteps echoed quietly through the abandoned hallways of Ouran High School. School was over, and most of the students had gone back to their mansions to order around their servants. Ayatsuri however, had taken the time alone, as Haruhi had walked home, to explore the campus. It was a large maze of a school, and she felt the need to familiarize herself with her surroundings.

Her head swiveled slowly as she walked through the opulent hallway, taking in the extravagant details and the expensive finery, and committing the twists and turns of the hallways to memory. She had made a full circle of that floor, and was going to go to the next, when she saw something right next to the Host Club's door. She slowed to a halt as she came across a completely black doorway, cocking her head and roving her reddish-black eyes across it, noticing the odd symbols etched in the wood. 'Are those… Celtic Runes?' she narrowed her eyes slightly, putting her hands in her pockets and unconsciously leaning forward. 'These are symbols that were commonly used by sorcerers and witches in black magic… What an odd thing to put on a door in a rich kids' school. Then again… there are some eccentric people here…' she thought, thinking back to the Host Club and rolling her eyes.

She was about to continue her circuit of the main school building, when her keen eyes caught some sort of fabric on the floor in the shadows of the only half-sunlit hall. She leisurely stepped over to it and slid a hand out of her pocket to pick whatever it was up. 'It's a… hand puppet? Of a cat?' and indeed it was. It was a simple hand puppet shaped like a yellow cat. It had slanted eyes and a wicked smile. She blinked at it. 'It's kind of cute.' And without a further thought, she stuck it into the pocket on her hooded sweatshirt, and continued her exploration.

A few hours later, she had finally walked through all of the school buildings. She had found a few rooms with people still in them; after school clubs that were still running. She had peeked in on some sort of fan girl club that met after the Host Club was over for the afternoon to squeal over pictures of the Hosts and minor possessions of theirs that they had bought from their website. Thankfully, they hadn't spotted her, or she probably would have been recognized as the black-clad figure that sat in on the Host Club sessions, considering how obsessed they were.

Though, that had been around an hour ago, so everyone, even the late-running clubs, was probably gone from the school now. Since she was done, Ayatsuri walked out of the school with a small smirk on her face. She had found plenty of interesting places in her breezing over the general layout of the school that would need further investigating at a later date. 'But for now… I want something sweet.' And with that thought in mind, her feet subconsciously carried her to a sweet shop that she had found over the summer with Haruhi.

She stepped into the quaint little shop, admiring the old-timer décor and the comfortable 'grandma's house' atmosphere. In fact, a little old lady who probably was someone's grandma was one of the owners of the little sweet shop, occasionally coming in and cooking some of the best cakes and buns. One of the middle-aged ladies that worked at the shop heard the bell on the door tinkle as the redhead made her way into the shop. She wiped her floury hands on her apron and greeted the girl with a smile. "Aya-chan, how are you doing? How's school? You haven't had the chance to come in here as much since summer break ended."

Ayatsuri took off her hat, stuffing it in her pocket with the hand puppet she had found earlier, and ruffled her two-toned hair, letting it air out after another day hidden under her hat. "School's doing great Midori-chan. Ru-chan and I have met some interesting people. They swindled her into being the little errand girl for their club because she broke a vase."

Midori smiled questioningly. "What kind of club is it?" she asked curiously as she started to prepare Ayatsuri's usual order. Ayatsuri sat on a chair next to a little table near the counter and took off her sunglasses. "And how did she break a vase? She didn't seem like a careless sort of girl when I met her over the summer."

"Ah. It's a Host Club. Haruhi broke the vase when one of the guys unnerved her and she sort of just backed into the stand it was on." Ayatsuri said with a small smirk as she thought back on it. Midori's green eyes widened as she handed the redhead her Chai tea and glazed bun.

"You mean like a place where boys seduce girls!? In a school!?" Midori asked scandalously. Ayatsuri grinned at her after she swallowed her large bite of donut.

"They are kind of man-whores, but they don't even kiss the girls. They have these acts that they do to make girls swoon, and get paid for it per customer. It's actually somewhat amusing to watch." She said as she sipped at her tea.

Midori grinned goofily. "It does kind of sound like a bit of fun." She said as she started to bake a few more cakes for the display. "What are they like? Are they handsome?" she asked the last part teasingly.

Ayatsuri contemplated for a moment. "There are six of them. One is overly dramatic; he's the one who started the club; two of them are a couple of rude twins; another is calculating and passive-aggressive, he's the one who really runs the show. The last two are pretty much polar opposites, though they are cousins. One is short, hyper and childish and carries around a stuffed rabbit, and the other is tall, barely talks and he acts almost like a bodyguard for his little cousin." You could tell from her tone of voice whom she liked the best out of the six.

Midori had a contemplative expression on her face as her friend/customer. "Those last two you described… I think they have come in here before. I was off shift, but I heard one of the teens working here blabbering about a 'cute little boy with a bunny' and a 'tall, dark and handsome guy giving him a piggy-back ride'."

Ayatsuri blinked lazily, before shrugging. "That makes a little sense I suppose. Hani-sempai is obsessed with cakes, and Mori-sempai is never far behind."

Midori's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as the door bell tinkled, making Ayatsuri turn lazily towards the door to see who just came in. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Though Hani isn't anywhere close to being a devil." She muttered ponderingly to herself as Hani and Mori came in the door and headed for the counter, they didn't seem to notice her in Hani's eagerness to get some cake.

Midori quickly regained her composure, though she was now curious about just how handsome the others were if these two were just samples. "May I take your orders?" she asked with a smile, thankfully making it there before one of the heart-eyed teenagers currently working there.

"Yeah! I'd like two helpings of strawberry shortcake and some vanilla coffee please." Hani said sweetly.

"Dark chocolate layer cake and green tea." Mori stated quietly.

Ayatsuri raised her eyebrow at hearing Mori actually speak. 'He's got a pleasant voice.' She thought absently as Midori politely started to make their respective orders. "Midori-chan, can I get a refill on my Chai and some white cake with buttermilk frosting while your getting their orders?" she called.

Midori grinned. "I'm surprised you haven't asked already. I suppose you didn't have as much time to inhale your sweets since I kept you talking." She said as she multi-tasked.

Hani had turned, clinging his bunny to his chest as he looked for the source of the order. When his honey-colored eyes found Ayatsuri, his face brightened. "Aya-chan! I didn't know you came here! I didn't expect to see you until tomorrow!" he bounced over to where she was sitting, plopping down in the cushy chair across from her. "You have such pretty hair and eyes!" he exclaimed. "I've never seen you without your hat and sunglasses!"

Ayatsuri blinked at the complement. "Thank you Hani-sempai. I don't think I've been told that before." And it was true; she hadn't been called pretty before. With her feature-hiding accessories, she'd only been called things like 'mysterious' and 'strange', especially considering her reputation at her old school.

Hani looked at her with wide eyes, and would have said something else, but then Mori came over, carrying their orders. Ayatsuri blinked up at him as he handed her the new order of cake she had asked for. "Thank you Mori-sempai."

"Aa." He said simply.

Then he sat down next to Hani, carefully monitoring him as he ate his sweets, and taking bites of his own cake every once and a while. Ayatsuri observed them for a while, before turning back to her tea and cake, half-listening to Hani talk about anything and everything he could think of.

Ayatsuri yawned widely, covering her mouth with her hand lazily. Hani and Mori both noticed that her wrists were smaller than normal for a boy. She then realized it was a little hot in side the sweet shop, so she took off her zip-up sweatshirt, not bothering to care that the two guys across from her thought that she was male. Hani and Mori blinked in surprise. "Aya-chan, you're a girl like Haru-chan?"

Ayatsuri blinked away the water in her eyes coming from her yawn, before answering the small senior. "Yeah. When did you figure out that Ru-chan was a girl?" she asked lazily.

Hani seemed to get over the revolution quickly "Well, I'm not sure about Takashi, but I noticed it when I saw how she reacted to Usa-chan's cuteness!" he said in his happy, childish voice.

Mori just said, "Aa." Not revealing much. Ayatsuri raised an eyebrow at him.

Ayatsuri then looked at the black leather watch on her wrist and her eyes narrowed a bit at the time. "Well, it was nice to see you two, but I need to get home. I'll see you tomorrow at the club." With that, she pulled her sweatshirt off the back of her chair, put it on, pulled her hat out of the pocket and onto her head, and put on her sunglasses. "Bye, Midori!" she called to her friend as she stood from her chair. She then flashed a sweet-polite smile at the two at the table, and quickly left the shop.

She didn't notice the interested looks on their faces. Midori did though, and decided to save it for teasing material to see if she could get the normally unflappable Ayatsuri to blush.

Said redhead was now rollerblading pell-mell down the sidewalks, intent on getting to the apartment complex before Haruhi finished making dinner; if she didn't Haruhi's normally passive temperament would flare up, and with Ayatsuri embarrassing poor Ru-chan already today, it would be more volatile than normal. Ayatsuri was always of the opinion that Haruhi would make a good mother one day; Practical, kind, and downright scary at times.

Ayatsuri ran into her apartment, having taken off her skates to be able to go up the stairs, and made her way quickly to the bedroom. She pulled out a suitably 'feminine' outfit that would pass Ranka's inspection, and slipped into the sleeveless turtleneck that matched her eyes, and the black jeans. She then jogged back out of her apartment, and slithered into Haruhi's right as she was setting the table.

"I'm not late then?" she asked cheerily. Haruhi looked up and gave her a blank expression.

"No." she said, before going back to the kitchen. Ayatsuri followed her like a lost puppy, coincidentally giving her the puppy dog eyes.

"I didn't embarrass you too badly did I Ru-chan? I didn't mean to! You aren't angry, right?" here she conjured up a few more tears and leaned down the necessary height to hug Haruhi around the middle. She wasn't meant to see it, but the brunette's lips twitched in amusement, before they were forced back into a straight line. "You still love me right?" Ayatsuri asked pitifully, her bottom lip quivering in an attempt to hold back giggles.

It was somewhat of a tradition for the childhood friends. Whenever one would offend or embarrass the other, they would get all dramatic and piteously beg for forgiveness (Ayatsuri because Haruhi would never do that) or bribe the other with homemade sweets (Haruhi, because Ayatsuri can't cook worth crap). It made for an apology, and got them to laugh. It was a 'two birds with one stone' situation.

Haruhi gave a fake, long-suffering sigh. "Yes, I still love you Tsu-chan." Before grinning, and picking up the food to move it to the table.

**I-am-a-line-watch-me-divide-the-story-segments**

Haruhi had regretfully allowed Ayatsuri to drive them to school in her haphazard, yet oddly efficient style. Haruhi got out of the car, completed her customary stumbling, before they both made their way to their respective classrooms, Ayatsuri walking with her shorter friend as far as she could.

As Ayatsuri neared her classroom, she noticed a black-cloaked figure haunting the doorway, apparent looking for something. 'Isn't he that kid that I noticed the first day? …Nekozawa was it? Didn't he have something on his hand…?' her eyes lit up behind the sunglasses that she always wore to school, and she fished the hand puppet that she had found the day before out of the pocket of her favorite hooded sweatshirt.

She stared at it for a moment. 'Cute. It's a shame I found its owner. I wouldn't have minded keeping it.' She gave an inaudible sigh before holding it out. He took a while to notice the puppet being held in front of his nose, but when he did, it only took a matter of seconds for him to snatch it and position it on his left hand.

Nekozawa stared at the black-clothed figure in front of him, who had his features hidden behind sunglasses and under a hat. "Why did you have Beelzenef?" he asked in his voice, which had been called creepy by the majority of the school. He was surprised when the stranger made no indication of being weirded out by him in any way.

"I found… him yesterday while exploring the halls after school hours." Ayatsuri said disinterestedly. "Cute puppet." She added. Nekozawa blinked.

"You are female, correct?" Nekozawa asked cautiously.

Ayatsuri nodded, a mildly curious look in her eyes. 'This guy… he's quite perceptive, isn't he?'

"What are you called?" he then asked inquisitively.

'What an odd way to ask that question. This guy is strangely likeable.' Ayatsuri thought, but answered simply, "I am called Usakichi Ayatsuri by most."

Nekozawa blinked, not that you could see his eyes through his dark green wig, and then said, "Well, Usakichi Ayatsuri, I am Nekozawa Umehito, and I am in your debt for rescuing Beelzenef." With that, he gave a small bow, and glided into the classroom.

Ayatsuri stared at the place he had been standing a moment ago bemusedly, before following his lead, and walking into the classroom just as the bell rang. Making sure to sit far away from Tamaki, and by default, Kyouya, she spent the class musing about Nekozawa for a few minutes, before her surprisingly short attention span drifted over to pondering various sweets. She still managed to get the questions right when her teacher called on her though; she was a master of daydreaming, but still absorbing what is happening around her. It annoyed the crap out of all her teachers.

Soon the bell rang, and she straightened up in her seat, waiting for the stampede of the majority of the students to make its way out the door, before leaving herself, glancing at  
Nekozawa, only to find him returning her gaze. She quirked him a smirk, and left the room, shrugging off her teacher's irritated gaze, to meet her short brunette friend for lunch.

"Ru-chan!" she sang happily, glomping her friend in the middle of the empty classroom. "How are you doing today? Is anyone hassling you? Are you having any trouble in your classes?"

Haruhi shrugged off her overly protective friend, but answered her. "I'm fine Tsu-chan. Classes aren't that hard to keep up with in most subjects, so I'll be okay." Ayatsuri gave her a smile, and then they pulled out their lunches, and started to eat them.

"I'll always love your cooking Ru-chan." Ayatsuri stated after swallowing a mouthful of food. "I wish I could cook as well as you." She said wistfully.

"You can't cook at all Tsu-chan." Haruhi stated bluntly as she finished eating the sushi she had packed for herself.

Ayatsuri pouted at her friend, before sticking her last skewer of dango, still with two dumplings on it, in her mouth and pulling out her rollerblades from her book bag. She then slipped them on, turned to her friend and said a short "Bye-bye Ru-chan." and zoomed out the room and down the halls towards her next class.

A little too soon for Haruhi's tastes, school classes were over, and it was time to head to the room that held the club that made her life miserable.

When they got there, however, Haruhi became even more irked with them when Tamaki came up to her and said, "Today, instead of hosting the beautiful females of our school, we are opening the Host Club late in order to do research!" Haruhi blinked at him, wondering what type of Host-thing he would have her do today. "Today, we will be making peasants' ramen!" Haruhi stared at him with a look between incredulousness and irritation.

Tamaki made his way over to a kitchen counter that had somehow made its' way into the music room, where the rest of the Hosts were congregated. "All right men! Everyone try to make a different type of ramen!" he said in a pompous, militaristic manner. The Hosts ignored him, still examining the cheap packets of ramen that were on the table with wonder.

"How does this have a thing to do with being a Host?" Haruhi asked mostly to herself, though Ayatsuri overheard it.

"It doesn't." she said bluntly. "Rich kids do whatever they want, and I think Suoh-san has an odd obsession with so called 'commoner' things." Haruhi was a bout to respond with some sort of dry comment, but then they heard Tamaki finish his instructions.

"Listen to the teacher!" Haruhi's eye started to twitch in irritation yet again as he gestured towards her, and even had the gall to put a sash around her shoulder proclaiming 'teacher' until she ripped it off and grudgingly headed over to instruct the Hosts in the art of making cheap noodles.

Thankfully for Ayatsuri, ramen was one of the few things she could make without blowing something up or setting something on fire, so she decided to make some as well, as she was a little hungry. 'Which flavor should I use?' she thought to herself, debating between two packets. 'Chicken and pork it is then.' She then, awkwardly prepared the noodles, tuning out the chatter of the Hosts around her.

She did pay attention however, when she heard an unknown voice next to her.

"My ingredients are stuck to the lid." A deep, quiet voice mumbled. Ayatsuri blinked, and looked up to find Mori looking at Haruhi expectantly. Haruhi was looking at him in astonishment, though she tried to hide it, and went on to explain how to do it correctly.

Ayatsuri stared at him for a moment or two, before going back to finishing the cooking of her noodles, 'He's got a nice voice. Shame he doesn't use it more.' She thought absently. She then picked up her noodles and walked over to the corner of the room that she had basically claimed as her 'territory'. She watched in slight amusement as Tamaki started to invade Haruhi's personal space yet again, and concentrated on slurping up her noodles, until she heard the rude twins start to talk.

"We just don't get it. No, it doesn't add up." They said simultaneously. "Tono's supposed to be teaching you how to be a Host, correct?" they asked Haruhi as they each placed a hand under her chin, making Ayatsuri growl lowly, but continued on without waiting for an answer. "But you can't even pass the first condition!" the finished, ending up standing next to Tamaki.

Tamaki held his chin contemplatively. "Hmm… I can see that. The problem is, once again, the visual…" he then walked towards the semi-confused brunette and examined her. After a few seconds, he reached forward to take off her glasses. "Then again, taking off the glasses might not do much, probably just make your eyes smaller. What's with these old-fashioned glasses anyways?" he asked absentmindedly.

"Well, these were my grandfather's… I lost my contacts at the Orientation Ceremony the day before school started…" she trailed off as she noticed all the Hosts staring at her intently.

Suddenly, Tamaki snapped his fingers. "Hikaru, Kaoru!" he commanded.

"Yes!!" they said, suddenly appearing with a mirror and scissors, already knowing what their blond leader wanted.

While the twins got to work, Tamaki continued to instruct the rest of the Hosts, pointing to each of them in turn. "Kyouya, call the school designated tailor. Mori get some prescription contacts!" Ayatsuri watched curiously as they did their assigned jobs speedily.

"What about me, Tama-chan?" Hani asked eagerly, hugging Usa-chan to his chest.

Tamaki pointed to the small senior pompously and declared, "Hani-sempai, go eat cake!"

Hani wandered off to a table to do just that, mumbling to himself and Usa-chan, until Ayatsuri took pity on the cute little blond and invited him over to her table to watch the show.

"Waaaaah! What are you doing?!" Haruhi shouted as she was shoved into a chair and the twins started to snip at her hair quickly.

"Don't worry." One said, "We're pros." The other finished.

'I doubt that.' Ayatsuri thought sourly as she watched them like a hawk, almost wanting a reason to pound them into the dust.

After awhile, in which Hani fell asleep on the table, and Ayatsuri gently moved him to a couch, Mori and Kyouya were back with their respective items, and the twins pulled Haruhi into the changing room until they were kicked out by her.

Then, after waiting for a few moments, everyone heard steps come closer to the curtain separating the changing room from them. "Sempai…" Haruhi's voice came through the curtain.

"Ah, you've finished changing?" Tamaki asked, interrupting her.

Haruhi ignored him though, and pulled aside the curtain as she finished her question, "Excuse me, but do I really get to keep this?" she asked as she tugged on the edge of her new uniform's blazer.

Her uneven hair had been cut properly, and fell nicely around her head, and without her dorky glasses, her large chocolate brown eyes shone brightly.

She didn't receive an answer though, and when she looked up, she saw Tamaki looking at her with tears flowing down his cheeks.

"SO CUTE!" he exclaimed, and he would have given her a tackle-hug if Ayatsuri hadn't grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar.

"Don't do that. You'll hurt Ru-chan." She said blankly, before turning to her friend herself and giving her a once over. "You look good Ru-chan. Much better than that Harry Potter wannabe that showed up the first day of school." She added with a small smirk.

Haruhi gave her friend a small pout, making Tamaki get up from his 'Corner O' Gloom' and babble about how cute she was again.

"How lovely you are! You almost look like a girl!" he exclaimed. Ayatsuri held back a snort of laughter at that comment.

"Haru-chan is cute!" Hani said happily.

"If you had that face, why didn't you tell us earlier?" Hikaru asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hmm… maybe you could get a customer or two…" Kyouya said contemplatively.

At that, Tamaki perked up and got a glint in his purple eyes. "Yes!! It was a calculated! I knew he would be able to do it!"

'Liar.' Both girls thought.

"Here now is the time that your true worth shall be revealed!" he continued dramatically. "Go show the ladies you're appearance of beauty! The Host Club starts now!"

"Tamaki, the club doesn't start until thirty minutes from now." Kyouya stated dryly, making Tamaki go back to his corner to angst some more.

Then, Haruhi got an evil gleam in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed by her redheaded friend, who slowly backed away to her corner chair. The short brunette creepily turned to her taller friend. "Oh Tsu-chan!" she said in an eerie voice. "I think you forgot what you agreed to when I was forced into becoming a trainee-Host." She moved in like a predator, slinking towards Ayatsuri. "You said, and I quote, 'Oh no Ru-chan. You aren't going to do chores. You'll be doing this option. I'll even help it go faster. But if you do the chores I won't help; that would be boring. Being a Host might have its benefits.' So I'm not doing a thing until you're trussed up like a turkey as well." Haruhi finished smugly.

Instead of getting depressed or irritated though, Ayatsuri gave a grin and hugged the smaller girl to her torso. "Aww… That's my little lawyer Ru-chan!" she said happily, before releasing her and pinching her cheeks like some sort of overly-affectionate-deranged-great-aunt. The Hosts stared at her in shock, never having seen her anything but passive or amused.

"You know that I would never go back on my word. I always intended to join you if you became a Host." Ayatsuri said after Haruhi slapped her hands away. "See? I even got a uniform in my size!" she finished; already back into her usually bland persona, and pulling the blue blazer and black slacks out of nowhere.

Haruhi's eyebrow twitched violently for a moment before she regained control of herself.

Then the twins, who, along with the rest of the Hosts, had been listening to their conversation, sidled up to the two. "What makes you think that you're handsome enough to become a Host anyway?" they asked simultaneously in a snide voice.

Ayatsuri's eye twitched behind her sunglasses, and she turned to the twins with a forced, polite smile on her face. "Surely if you two are Hosts, it does not take much to meet the club's standards. I am quite sure that I am sufficiently pleasing to the feminine eye. It is somewhat sad that you two are so insecure in your own appearance that you go so low as to insult others on theirs without even knowing their features." She said with a forced calm, before striding into the changing room to switch out her clothes for the males' Ouran uniform, leaving the twins gawking at her back.

Hani then walked up to them, looking at the twins with slight reproach. "Aya-chan is cute though, right Takashi?" he said, asking for confirmation from his tall cousin.

"Aa." He said with a nod.

The twins blinked in surprise. "How do you know what he looks like?" they asked at the same time.

Hani's eyes brightened happily. "Aya-chan was in a sweet shop yesterday. The really good one that Takashi and I found a couple of weeks ago!" here he paused for a moment. "'He' wasn't wearing his hat or sunglasses when 'he' was there." He said with a slight giggle at calling Ayatsuri a 'he'.

The twins swapped glances, before leaning in towards the short senior. "What does he look like?" they asked curiously.

Hani opened his mouth, and was about to answer their question, when they all heard Tamaki gasp in astonishment. The five who were all clustered together turned around, while Kyouya looked up from his laptop, and saw Ayatsuri for the first time without her glasses or hat.

Her white-tipped burgundy hair fell around her face, some of it getting in her reddish-black eyes as she leaned against the wall. The blazer was tied around her waist, while the white dress shirt hid her small chest, and the black slacks were slightly baggy. Her tie wasn't fastened and hung around her neck underneath her unbuttoned collar.

"Well?" she asked blandly. "Am I aesthetically pleasing enough to entertain the vapid females of this school?"

Tamaki's eyes widened and he started to reprimand her profusely. "Beauty is no excuse to… to slander the fair ladies of this establishment!" he blustered.

Ayatsuri looked at him blankly. "I'm not insulting them. I am applying an adjective that matches their personalities and behavior patterns. Most of them are distinctly vapid, especially the ones who come to this club. That is why they fall for your 'prince charming' act."

Tamaki froze mid-rant, looking at her in horror, before he disappeared to his corner to sulk again. Soon though, they could all hear pounding feet outside the door, and all of them moved to their positions in front of the door to pose for the herd of yellow-clothed girls on the other side of it.

**I-am-a-line-watch-me-divide-the-story-segments**

All right, my sparse collection of readers; I'm really sorry about the wait, but I just couldn't think of anything to write. This chapter is extra long to make up for it though! I hope you enjoy it, and I'll try to update as soon as possible.


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